From the media rumblings
about Scott this past week, I had thought we had another Stephen Ames incident
on our hands.

There have been more than a
few times in Tiger’s career when some pretender spoke out of line about Tiger’s
abilities, then quickly paid the consequence. Most dramatically was when
Stephen Ames suggested Tiger’s erratic driver was making him vulnerable in
Match Play. The venue was 2006 World Match Play Championship at La Costa. The
day before Tiger and Ames squared off in the first day of matches, Ames
casually said: "Anything can happen, especially where [Tiger's] hitting the
ball." The next day, Tiger dismissed Ames 9 and 8. (A virtual shutout, as the
only more lopsided score possible is 10 and 8.)

Tiger even admitted that
Ames’ comment motivated him, with a smile and nod, though his only comment
about it was: "Nine and eight."

So, before The Barclays,
Adam Scott was asked: "Would you rather have your season or Tiger's, and do you
think Tiger would rather have his or yours?" Adam replied with a smile: "I'd
rather have mine, that's for sure. I really don't know. He may want mine."

Did he know he was lighting
a fire under El Tigre? Did he dare have the arrogance to compare himself to
Tiger?

The truth of the matter is a
lot less dramatic if you look at the rest of the
interview transcript. As most golf fans know, Adam is a mostly humble man.
Earlier in the same interview, he was asked: "Who would you say has had the
best year on the Tour so far?"

Adam replied flatly: "Tiger.
Five wins? Has he won five times? Tiger's had the best year." And, to another
question about the criteria for Player of the Year, Adam said: "I don't think
one major makes up for five tournaments."

Adam’s comment about Tiger
wanting Adam’s year was specifically about Tiger’s top priority of winning 19
majors, and Adam’s season would have given Tiger No. 15, and he’d be one step
closer.

Either way, Adam’s comment
couldn’t have been better for setting up a little rivalry going into the FedEx
Playoffs, especially how the Barclay’s finished up Sunday, with Woods fighting
to the last putt.

The media will over-hype the
rivalry, as it always does, and that’s fine. But that doesn’t mean you should
discount the fiery motivation that Tiger will use to shrug off another
pretender to the throne. If his back doesn’t literally fall out of his body, I
think Tiger’s a safe bet to take the FedEx Cup and Player of the Year.

Which brings us to another
topic: Tiger’s perennial health problems. I remember announcers like Johnny
Miller and Curtis Strange doing the slow motion analysis of Tiger’s swing in
his prime and just being dumbfounded at how fast his hips turned ahead of his
shoulders. The speed and the timing that the speed required were otherworldly
to them. The announcers wondered over and over: "How long can his body could
take that torque?"

Well, as it turns out, not
so long after all. Because Tiger often disappears from media view when dealing with
a medical problem, it’s easy to forget how many different issues he has dealt
with in his career. Again, courtesy of Golf.com, we have a
litany of his injuries/surgeries over the years. It’s getting pretty long.

And if Tiger’s current
troubles were really triggered by a hotel mattress, as he claims, those old
rumors of Tiger installing his own furniture in every house he rented during
tournaments will be coming back.

Ron Romanik
is principal of the brand narrative, packaging intelligence and PR consultancy Romanik Communications (www.romanik.com),
located in Elverson, PA. His full bio is here.

Where is the Lee Trevino of today? There may
never be another like him. He faced a hardscrabble life taken one day at a
time, with positive thoughts and energy all the way.

Lee Buck Trevino is my new hero for a number of
reasons. Off the course, it’s easy to admire his humility, enthusiasm, and
class. On the course, of course, are his unusual swing, fast play, mental
fortitude, pure love of the game, and inimitable personality.

Many of these qualities were on display at
Merion in 1971. If Golf Channel ever plays its "Greatest Rounds" Merion U.S.
Open episode again, don’t miss it. The tournament went to a Monday playoff, but
the 72nd hole was most dramatic. While watching Jack try to make a putt to win
it outright on Sunday, an interviewer caught up with Trevino out of earshot.

When Trevino played 18 just a few moments
earlier, he was obviously thrown off when a sound made him back off his par
putt, which he missed. As it turned out, one of the 19,000 fans fell from a
spectating perch on the scoreboard. Trevino shrugged it off.

"These people are so wonderful out here," he
said. "I don’t want to use any excuses. I probably would have missed the putt
anyway. The putter felt like it weighed 50 pounds...I didn’t hit a good drive...I
deserved a bogey."

Earlier in the round, Jack’s tediously slow
play was pushing the limits of Lee’s patience, though. As Jack would take 30
seconds after address before hitting a putt, Lee would be off the green
fidgeting and fidgeting, unable to keep still.

His demeanor is always one of gratitude, as if
he’s just happy to be there. Which you believe he is. Even when he says he
wasn’t fearful of Jack before the Open Championship at Muirfield
in 1972, as Trevino wrote Wednesday in Today’s
Golfer, it doesn’t sound arrogant in the least. Or, he goes on, "In those
days, I expected to chip in every time." Well, he did have four chip-ins that
week.

Subconscious vs. conscious

This year has been a sort of delayed victory
lap for Trevino, with Merion and Muirfield falling in
the same year. Much has been written about his game and personality, and how he
suppressed his conscious mind to let his subconscious mind golf, as is
summarized pretty well by
Cameron Morfit of Golf
Magazine.

Of the four chip-ins that week, the 16th on
Saturday was the biggest "gift from the gods" as Lee put it in Today’s Golfer. From an impossible lie
in a greenside bunker, not even hoping to get it close, he flew his shot right
in the hole.

Of course, the 17th hole on Sunday was the chip
in everyone remembers, even though Lee was still mad after making it, because
he thought the hole ruined his chances. But that chip is an illustration of the
subconscious golfer being more proficient than any over-analytical conscious
mind might be. If you watch the tape, he kind of stabs at the ball in resigned
desperation, not conscious at all. Nevertheless, I’m sure, he expected to make
it.

Being a highly analytical person, I have
difficulty letting my subconscious mind take over on the course. And falling on
the reserved scale of personality, I don’t automatically treat everyone as a
good friend. However, I’m asking myself more and more: "What would Lee do?"

I’m even trying to copy his swing. I’ve decided
to stop fighting my "bad" tendencies, and instead work them into my swing. I
always preferred an open stance and fade as a youth, why should I fight against
my instinct? Though I can’t match his cupped wrist at the top, I’m working a
strong right-side-under move like Lee’s that lets me get through the ball
straight down the line more consistently.

Someday, I’ll be able to suppress my analytical
conscious mind enough to play a freer form of golf. Until that day, I want to
build a swing that, like Trevino used to say, gets better the more pressure is
put on it. And though I’ve never tried to talk during my own swing, as Lee
sometimes did, now I think: Why not?

Ron Romanik is
principal of the brand, packaging and PR consultancy Romanik
Communications (www.romanik.com), located
in Elverson, PA. His full bio is here.

After the Open champion was
crowned, Colin Montgomerie on Golf Channel had the
audacity to compare Justin Rose’s 18th hole finish with Ben Hogan’s in 1950
finish. Was that so outrageous? I say no.

Justin’s two shots were
perfectly and confidently struck, knowing that par was likely necessary to win
the tourney. And he gave himself an excellent chance for birdie, which he
nearly converted. Just a reminder here, no
one birdied 18 on Sunday, and there were only 11 birdies all week. Regardless, Justin was a
half-ball-roll from jarring it for an exclamation point on his victory. An
exclamation point, though, is not necessary if you still get the job done with
utmost efficiency, as Justin did on Sunday.

Of course, one could argue
that he came up short on his eagle attempt,
as the 18th hole was essentially a par-five for the week, averaging 4.7 strokes
for competitors. Maybe scoring average would be a better way to determine the
par for a hole. If, for example, you applied this concept comparably from
Merion to Augusta National, The Masters would be a par-68, as none of the
par-fives in 2013 had scoring averages over 4.7. So, conversely, applying the
same criterion retroactively from Augusta to Merion would make the East Course a
par 72, and the winner was actually seven under par.

All that aside, kudos to the
USGA for a fine job orchestrating the event. And thanks to all the neighbors
who gave up their front lawns for the event, as I’m sure the grass won’t completely
recover from the abuse until next year.

I also feel for Jason Dufner, and I’m glad that his triple-bogey on 15 did not
lose him the tournament, per se. A par on that hole would have still left him
one shot back. Needless to say, six birdies on the East Course, in contention,
in U.S. Open conditions, was incredible. Justin, for the record, made five
birdies on the day for the trophy.

Maybe the best part of this
Open was how so many players spent time near or on top of the leaderboard on
the weekend, and how bunched up they were. Players with hot hands would claim
the lead and then lose it just as quickly, sometimes more than once or twice.
And having Phil in the mix is always adds an extra element of excitement.

My dark horse pick

As 18 was essentially a
par-five all week, so was the par-four fifth hole, which also averaged 4.7
strokes for the week. The hole was played 456 times last week, and birdied only
12 times. Amazingly, there was one fellow who birdied it twice, in the second
and third rounds. That would be my dark
horse pick for the week, Edward Loar, who
followed up a 4-iron to 15 feet on Friday with a 3-iron to four feet on
Saturday.

"Yeah! How about that!" Loar enthused, amused at his own good fortune on No. 5.
"Playing that hole in one-under-par for the week is pretty good!"

I picked Loar
because he appears to be one of the few players that is actually enjoying
playing the game at this level, even after a 76 on a "brutally difficult
course," as was the consensus. "What a great week, what a blast to play in the
Open," Loar mused on an upbeat note.

"Obviously, I’m going to
take a lot of positives," he continued. "I played really good most of the time.
What I’m probably going to take mostly for me is how comfortable I was with
everything. Even when I got on the leaderboard Saturday...I didn’t get nervous."

Loar finished a respectable T32 at +13, in decent company
with Tiger Woods, Bubba Watson, and defending champion Webb Simpson. He now
heads back to the Web.com Tour, where he is second on the money list and in a safe
position to regain his PGA Tour card for 2014.

However, as most players
echoed late Sunday afternoon, Loar admitted the Open
can just plain wear you out. "To be honest with you, I’m kind of glad I’m
done," he chuckled.

Phil’s several nemeses

The Driver: Reintroduce
yourself, Phil. The fifth and the eighteenth holes required a driver to have
decent chances at birdie or par.

Himself: Self-delusion is
not a long-term strategy, and blind confidence is not a prudent U.S. Open
strategy. When the confidence is producing incredible shots, I admit, it’s
certainly fun to watch. But the other side of the spectrum is painful to watch.

The 16th green: On both Saturday
and Sunday, Phil had very makeable 15-foot birdie putts that fooled him just
enough to slide by the edge.

Wait a minute...

Do these Golf Channel guys
know more than everyone else?

Rich Lerner: "...Merion, back
in the U.S. Open rotation..."

Tim Rosaforte:
"...If you’re looking down the road...I think it’s safe to say that we will be back
at Merion Golf Club."

I understand the logistical
and player considerations for not letting spectators behind the 16th green and
17th tee. The disruption to the flow of the round would have exacerbated the
slowness of the rounds and the chaotic atmosphere would have been difficult for
the players to tolerate.

I was lucky enough to get
access to a spot behind the 17th tee late in the day on Saturday. As cool as it
is to watch players shape drivers off of the par-fives this week, it was quite
an eye-opener to watch the variety of shots that these golfers tried to get it
close on 17.

Some of the variety came
from the fact that each golfer has his own natural ball flight, but a good deal
of variety was also caused by the particular demands of that hole. Of the 20
shots I witnessed, none were the same shape.

The pin position was back
and to the right, below a slight ridge both in front and from the left. All the
players knew the pin was going to be there, as during practice rounds many were
gauging the speed they needed to negotiate the ridges. From the left side of
the green, for instance, putts had to delicately and slowly cross the crest of
the ridge to settle down near the pin. Any extra oomph, and the comebacker
could be five feet.

To generalize, the biggest
hitters tried to high fades that landed just short of the ridge, in hopes that
it would release over the ridge and settle near the pin. Two of the best were by
Rory McIlroy and Nicolas Colsaerts, which started perfectly at the left side of
the green, landed center, and wound up nicely near the hole. Colsaerts’ was higher, probably the highest of the day.
What was also similar about these two shots was the club. Both hit it with
old-school, 3- or 2-iron forged blades.

By contrast, Padraig
Harrington hit a low, frozen rope three-wood, I believe, trying to skip it
through the false front. One of the most inventive shots came from Tiger, with
a choked down 3-wood. He set up facing the left grandstand and hit the kind of
controlled slice that only Tiger attempts regularly in competition. The ball
started left of the left bunkers curved about 30 yards and landed softly
left-center of the green, settling less than 20 feet from the pin.

As he has sometimes done
before with shorter clubs, Tiger this time was trying to roll the most makeable
putt—from the tee 254 yards away! If the ball had landed only 10 feet
deeper into the green, he probably would have been inside Rory.

Mickelson’s shot, which he
called his best of the day, was a nicely rounded draw that achieved a similar
result to McIlroy’s and Colsaerts’.

If you get a chance on
Sunday, stand behind a Billy Horschel drive or
long-iron. His trajectory is so consistently high and straight, it’s no wonder
he expects to hit every green in regulation.

Earlier in the day, it was
nice to see a player not take himself too seriously on the 17th. After an
adventurous romp through hill and dale, Welshman Jamie Donaldson holed out for
a six, turned to the crowd, and raised his hands for a victorious double
fist-pump. The grandstand crowd ate it up.

Putting it out there

If you’re watching on TV,
it’s impossible to appreciate the difficulty of putting Merion’s greens. There
are so many small contours that only show up when a player misses a six-footer
by three-inches.

Watching players negotiate
the seemingly benign sixteenth green pin position, I was able to formulate a
new way to explain players’ struggles on these tricky greens. Because they are
so fast and slopey, the strategic analysis of each is
different that normal, even for these guys.

Normally, you pick a line
you think will get you too the hole, then you pick a speed to match that line.
If the two don’t match up in your imagination or by closer inspection of the
green or slope, you adjust.

On these greens, and at many
major championship and A-level tour events, players must pick the speed first,
then figure out if there’s a line that can get them to the hole. Actually,
"pick" the speed is not always accurate, especially on downhill putts. There’s often
only one option—it’s the speed the putt necessitates. And, many times,
there might not be a line, at that speed, that they can hit it on to stop it
near the hole.

For instance, if there’s a crest,
even a subtle one, running between the ball and the hole at a diagonal on a
downhill putt, there may simply not be a line where you can aim far enough down
the ridge and not risk a long putt coming back. Either from running it by or
from getting on the wrong side of the ridge. That’s why you see the ball settle
a few inches to the low side of the hole so many times. And the farther you are
from the hole, the more often this happens on these greens.

To put it bluntly, there are
some downhill 20-foot putts that are, for all intents and purposes, impossible
to make under tournament conditions. That’s because the players won’t risk the
high probability of a three-putt by taking a line that only has a slight chance
of success anyway.

There were actually two smiling lefties keeping
it together on the course on Friday. One you may know--he shot an uneven 72 to
maintain a tie for the overnight lead. The other smiling lefty, Edward Loar,
bested that score by one with a tactically proficient, sometimes inspired, four-birdie
71. He stands only five back at 144.

On Wednesday, I picked
Loar as one of my two dark horses for the week, along with Dustin Johnson. I’ll
take partial credit for making a good pick in Dustin, as his separated-at-birth
Belgian twin, Nicolas Colsaerts, is still in the hunt.

The main reason I looked at Loar goes back to
"Golf’s Longest Day"—the Open’s day of Sectional Qualifiers. After
watching countless earnest college kids joylessly grind out the final stretch,
I was stuck by the contrast of the big Texan with a toothy grin actually
seeming to enjoy the moment. Of course, he did finish eagle-birdie-birdie to
secure his spot. That would put a smile on anyone’s face.

I thought to myself: "That’s refreshing to see.
That’s a guy I’d like to have a beer with." This, in fact, appears to be the
type of pro many fans are pining for these days, and the distinction is
literally tearing the golfing world apart (exaggeration for effect). Tiger, in
many fans’ estimation, does not fit this definition, as some fans keep making
up new excuses not to like the guy.

I would argue that this definition of fan
affiliation is, ironically, why there is so much Bubba love out here on the
East Course. I guess there doesn’t have to be a jarring disconnect in wanting
to share a beer with a guy that doesn’t drink. Nevertheless, golf certainly
could use a few more "regular" guys that fans can identify with.

But back to my man Loar, who is currently
sporting a five-day, unmanicured, regular-guy beard. While many golfers suffered
through Friday’s round with dour faces, hoping for an easy hole that never
came, Loar took it one shot at a time. Through tough stretches of the course,
he took what the course gave him and bided his time, waiting for opportunity,
and enjoying himself.

I caught up with Loar after the round, and
asked if perception was reality, and that he was gladly rolling with punches,
even on a torture test like Merion. "Yeah, it’s golf!" he grinned through his
light Texas drawl. "You know, I’m lucky to get to play golf for a living, and I
try to enjoy it every time. Granted, this a really difficult challenge, but it
is enjoyable."

Loar, at 35, is not a complete unknown, as he
has won twice on the Web.com tour. Between spying on other groups in
contention, I was lucky enough to catch the three birdies on Loar’s last nine
holes of the day. Though he didn’t reach No. 2 in with a utility club on his
second shot, the ball ended up in an ideal spot just short of the green.

One of the best shots I saw all day was Loar’s
perfectly carved approach to the impossible fifth hole. If you don’t know
already, the fifth green pitches severely right to left. Loar’s approach was
drawing against the slope when it landed, softly, just 15 feet from the cup. At
nine he had a great look at birdie from above the hole, but couldn’t convert. And
on 10, he took an aggressive line with the driver to the collar for a two-putt
birdie from 90 feet.

An impressive 71 on a course set up for pain,
and only a 11 players of the 154 still playing shot a better score for the
second round. When his round hit a few bumps, he was mentally prepared: "You’re
going to have, obviously, some struggles. It’s the U.S. Open, and it’s a hard golf course. But I was able to hang
in there. Like I’ve been telling people all week, you’re going to see a lot of
birdies, but you’re going to see a lot of train wrecks."

And he was able to enjoy the moment, outside of
himself, and persevere through his minor train wrecks. His honest assessment of
the birdie on No. 5 that righted his ship: "That was awesome! I really needed
it. I was off to a real good start, then I had a double bogey and a bogey. I
hit a great 4-iron in there from 221. Probably the best shot I hit all day." Keep
an eye on this guy, regular or not, when he moves back up to the "regular" Tour
next year, as he seems poised to do, and maybe more "regular" guys will join
him there.

But is it golf?

Par is just a number. The leaders are actually
tied at 5-under, or 7-under, 9-under, depending on whether you think the East
Course is a par 72, 73, or 74. There are valid arguments for each belief. There
are two par-fours that play like par-fives, and two par-threes that play like
par-fours.

Several pros, including Tiger and Jim Furyk,
couldn’t help themselves but point out the obvious. The pin positions were
brutal, just brutal.

Yes, it is golf. The USGA’s goal is to force
players to play as many different shots under trying conditions. Around Merion,
every facet of a golfer’s game will be tested.

Just remember when watching on TV that
photography flattens contour and slope, so what you see is not reality. In
truth, there are almost no "easy" chips, and even some three-footers will break
a hole or more.

Spectator tip

Bring Binoculars!! The course is so wide open
that you can watch action across several holes with relative ease. For
instance, behind the 17th green, you can watch, the approach shots to the
picturesque 18th. I watched the ninth tee and green from the second fairway!

I have the Thursday night exclusive
scoop: Sources say Phil flew out to San Diego after Thursday’s round in the
hopes of repeating his first round formula for success. In a related story, Lee
Westwood revved up his jet before reconsidering an overnight trip across the
pond.

I predicted someone would
hit a wicker basket, I just thought it would be Tiger. Instead, Lee Westwood’s
ball on 12 ricocheted back off the green, and he wound up with a double-bogey.
Lee later sarcastically tweeted: "So much tradition at Merion to talk
about......like those delightful wicker baskets!"

But on to broader topics of
import during the first round of the Championship. Hoping as I was to see some
aggressive tee club selections, I was disappointed when following the bomber
trio of Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, and Nicolas Colsaerts
as they eschewed driver on so many holes and went with irons on short
par-fours. On their last hole of the day, the 10th, Dustin was the only player
of the group to take an aggressive line, hitting a 5-wood to the greenside
bunker for a relatively easy up-and-down birdie.

On the previous hole, No. 9,
not many players were attacking the pin, which was placed fiendishly in the
back left over a gaping bunker. Both Colsaerts and
Watson, however, stuck high long-irons left of the pin inside 10-feet. However,
that left them with slippery downhill putts, which neither made. Dustin was 15
feet below the hole to the right, but he couldn’t convert either.

After the round, Dustin
explained is simple strategy for the day (paraphrasing): Get it in the fairway;
get it on the green; get it under the hole; hopefully make a few putts. He
couldn’t heed his own advice on No. 5, however, when his third shot, a short
pitch, stayed above the hole, which he probably thought was impossible on that
green, the most severely sloped on the course.

Late in the day, I happened
to run into Tom Fazio sauntering down the spectator rail on the 15th hole. Fazio
is famed golf course architect who helped make subtle and not-so-subtle changes
to the East Course in preparation of the U.S. Open. I asked him if he was
surprised that more players weren’t attempting more aggressive shots off the
tees. His quick response: "No. Because it’s Thursday. Come moving day,
Saturday, and Sunday, you might see something a little different." Look for
more on our conversation later in the week.

More Notes:

I joked before the
tournament that Mickelson would probably leave the driver home and put seven
wedges in his bag. Well, he put five wedges in there, with degree lofts of 64,
60, 56, 52, and 48.

Sometimes when Chamblee
starts off on a tangent with a tenuous tie to reality, Nobilo
just looks far off into the distance. It seems like he’s thinking either: "Oh
brother" or "There he goes again."

Nobilo on Scott’s apparent new level of performance:
"Confidence is fickle, Belief is much more permanent." How come few give credit
where credit is due. Steve Williams is definitely a significant factor in
Scott’s ascendence and confidence—and belief.

How often do you see a
player pick up the tee on a par-three before the ball lands on the green. Adam
Scott did just that when his shot on No. 3 was covering the pin.

Ron Romanik
is principal of the brand, packaging and PR consultancy Romanik
Communications (www.romanik.com), located
in Elverson, PA. His full bio is here.

USGA’s Mike Davis pointed out on Monday that
there are 11 holes at Merion with some element of "blindness" in them. This
total includes holes that you wouldn’t call completely blind, or even think of
as blind per se. On No. 2, for instance, most drives end up on an upslope where
the layup area and green are obscured by the slope. And No. 11 technically has
a blind tee shot because the player can’t see the landing area from the tee,
even though the fairway guides the player pretty well from the tee.

So, the winner of this U.S. Open is likely to
be one of the most cautious, tactical players out there. I’m not sure who that
is, but Steve Stricker comes to mind, and he was in
good form on Wednesday afternoon, hitting to laser-straight tee balls to the
center of the 9th green with two different clubs. This man’s personality
defines patience and calculated strategic decisions.

I’d love to see a big hitter like Dustin
Johnson or Nicholas Colsaerts just throw caution to
the wind this week and "Go big or go home." Calculating the risk/reward
equation on every short par-four isn’t worth the time and effort. As long as
those guys are, the odds would probably tilt toward aggression on many holes
over the long run.

Ideally, it would be most interesting to have a
second, shadow U.S. Open next week where players were required to hit driver or three-wood off every par-four. That would
be fun to see all the different kinds of recovery shots players would face
around the greens. With the rough as thick and dense as it is, though, it might
not be the prettiest thing to watch.

But back to reality.The proper mindset entering a U.S. Open
is one of patience and expecting many bad things to befall you, and knowing
when to take your medicine. "I think it’s a lot of acceptance of what’s going
to be out there," is how Hunter Mahan put it. Five-irons off par-fours are
going to be common, and there are going to be times when hitting a bunker shot
away from the hole is the best option. Maybe even hitting putts away from the
hole.

Wednesday mid-day was not the most fruitful
time for viewing high-profile players. But it wasn’t bad for spectating
spectators. The breezy, easy day was one better for lounging in the shade and
idle conversation than for straining your neck for a glimpse of a superstar. As
one overheard comment put it: "We’ve seen like one guy play golf today."

But, for the sake of fellow spectators, as the
players step up their game this week, may the gallery also step up its game. My
hope is that they pause to put a little effort and thought into their on-course
commentary. It’s always a good guideline to stick to what you know, know what
you don’t know, and avoid common clichˇs whenever possible. The friend standing
next to you is not your only audience.

I’m pulling for a good week for qualifier Ed Loar, journeyman from Texas. A gregarious fellow who looks
like he’s having fun just playing the game. He also took time to sign about 15
autographs between #2 green and #3 tee on Wednesday afternoon. Or, I may just
like him because he sports a beard style similar to mine.

I’m sticking to my guns and will say that the
winning score will be under 269 or less.

And I’d like to see MatteoMannesaro have some success on this side of the pond.
He seems a genuinely positive personality and has a great interview presence.

Spectator tips

Be prepared, there are some dead ends where you
might not expect them out on the course. The ropes sometimes come to a
cul-de-sac where there is no option but to turn around. There’s only one way to
get down to the 11th green, for instance—by going down the right side of
12 and around the back of the 12 tee.

Some prime spots to park yourself are beside
the 9th tee, where you can also see action of players approaching No. 4 green
and teeing off on No. 5 and No. 10. And the No. 6 tee area also lets you watch
No. 2 green and tee shots on the long par-three third.

And if want to maximize effort to viewing
pleasure, consider a grandstand

Waterproof shoes will be a good option all
weekend. Even though the course was drying out on Wednesday, and the
maintenance staff laid tons of mulch and straw on walkways, there were still
some muddy spots. With more rain likely Thursday, choose your footwear wisely,
even on Sunday or Monday.

Ron Romanik is
principal of the brand, packaging and PR consultancy Romanik
Communications (www.romanik.com), located
in Elverson, PA. His full bio is here.